Guildford Local Plan decision meeting will go ahead before Local Elections

Guildford's Local Plan could deliver 14,602 new homes by 2034 (Image: Grahame Larter)

Sign up to FREE email alerts from SurreyLive - daily

When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes they’ll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. OurPrivacy Noticeexplains more about how we use your data, and your rights. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Read More

Related Articles

They also asked for it to be moved to a bigger venue with more time for members of the public to speak on the matter.

An amendment to the motion was also put forward by the Liberal Democrats who wanted an alternative plan to still be considered in the suggested extra time, but that was rejected from being added.

A Local Plan sets out planning policies and identifies how land is used within a local authority area and what will be built.

Guildford’s Local Plan has gone through four formal public consultations and two rounds of inquiry hearings.

Guildford's Local Plan will set out where housing is needed such as places like Wisley Airfield (Image: Alistair Wilson)

A report by a planning inspector was published on March 28 concluding the plan is “sound” and “capable of adoption”.

Councillors then have to formally adopt the plan and although there is no set time frame for a decision to be made guidance suggests it must be done quickly, according to GBC’s legal adviser.

Speaking about the motion to defer the decision until after the Local Elections on Tuesday, cllr Tony Rooth from The Independent Alliance, said: “We have to get this right as much as we possibly can and that takes time and some consideration.”

He said the “major decision” should not be “forced through”.

Blackwell Farm could be included in Guildford Borough Council's local plan (Image: Steve Porter)

Backing the motion to defer the decision until after the elections, cllr Susan Parker, Guildford Greenbelt Group, questioned whether it was normal to “agree something that is politically sensitive one week before an election when the composition of the council may change”.

Councillors are due to be given training on April 18 on the decision they need to make on the 25th.

And in an explanation attached to the motion on Tuesday the council’s managing director James Whiteman said “from a planning perspective” there was “no reason to delay” considering or adopting the Local Plan and that there were “good planning reasons” to support its adoption “as quickly as possible”.

Supporting the decision to decide the Local Plan at the extraordinary meeting on April 25, council leader Paul Spooner said over the years they had listened to all the “messages” and feedback from residents and groups.

Cllr Tony Rooth (Image: Surrey Advertiser)

He said: “There are many messages and that’s why it’s a complicated and difficult issue. This one is not easy, but we have been through this process.

“We have people who agree and people who disagree but we are the people who have lived and breathed this over previous years and that’s why I think we are the appropriate people to make this decision.”

The motion to defer the April 25 meeting and to hold it in a bigger venue and allow more time for public speaking was rejected.